UM....AWKWARD (TAG: MARINA/DIANA/MAYBE LUKE)

[mooshi]

This was okay. This was going to be okay. Yeah everything was going to work out. That is what Rodney had been trying to tell himself for the past few hours. Now that meeting Diana Mckenzie was just a few minutes away, Rodney was completely freaking. What happened to his calm and collective self? Oh yeah, it flew right out the window when Rodney met Marina. For some reason, everything about her made him anything but calm and collective. And meeting her mother, the one woman who was going to fix everything just added to his anxiety. Mainly because Marina was so adamant and excited about him meeting her. He was usually good with parents, but this was different. Why? He had come to the conclusion that what he felt for Marina wasn’t the type of relationship that people came across daily. It was so much more than that, which made things a bit difficult at times. This being one of those times. What would he come up against tonight? Diana had invited them both over for dinner, and Rodney wasn’t sure what to say to the many questions he was so unprepared for. First question, so are you dating my daughter? First answer, um define dating. Have we gone out a few times and I’ve paid? Yes. Have we made out a few times? Quite a lot actually. Second question, what you’re your intentions with my daughter? Second answer, with all due respect ma’am, I have no clue what my intentions are with myself let alone your daughter at this point. It was all just a big jumble in his head. What were the right answers versus what shouldn’t even be mentioned.

Rodney glanced over at Marina who was walking next to him. She looked nervous, but she was doing a very good job of keeping it to herself. He turned back to the lovely home they were now approaching. Here we go, he said to himself as he slipped his fingers into hers and squeezed them tightly. He gave her a smile, but there was no way he was hiding it as well as she was. He was a ball full of nervousness.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

Mari squeezed his hand back as they walked towards the mansion she'd been staying in the last few months, she looked back at Rodney and smiled softly as her light teal dress flowed in the breeze and swished with the movement of her hips, "You'll do fine. Don't worry so much." she whispered as she looked up at him. She leaned against him lightly and relaxed. Her stomach was a jumble of knots.

She had her own worries. How did she fit Rodney in her world? Could she? Would Diana just announce that Mari was marrying Trent and that was it? Would she look at Rodney and go "Well that's funny because I have it on good authority she made out with Trent not that long ago. So clearly you're not all that." Oh god, now she was really worried. How would she explain that one? If she was asked in front of Rodney she would totally die. He'd think she was a tramp. She was just so confused when it came to Trent, and it didn't help that when he bit her it made her body go all mushy and orgasmic; that was so not fair. She bet Rodney didn't need pointy teeth to do that. Okay it was so time to focus her mind for the dinner ahead. "I like you and that is what matters. Remember that. Mom is gonna try and freak you out. She probably has a few embarrassing kid photos. And is going to go on about how my family is old and ancient and boring. And how I'm her baby girl and no one is good enough. Don't let her bully you though. She's testing you to see how well you stand up to her. Just be polite but firm and honest. She can't fuss at you for being honest."

She went to the front door and opened it, "Mom! I brought Rodney with me." she called and then tugged him into the entry way walking through the door and looking for Diana as she made her way with Rodney through the house. Her flats clicking as her hair gleamed in the light. She'd put a light teal ribbon through the french braid she wore. Her mark barely showed over her capped sleeve. She hadn't told Rodney about it and she wasn't even sure that Diana knew. This was going to be interesting indeed. The powers that be were seriously trying to get her in trouble.

[Luke Brody]

Luke wasn't really sure what was going on. He knew that Diana was meeting some friend of Marina's, but it wasn't really any of his business. It was probably a recruiting thing or an interrogation of some sort. That's what these type of things usually were when he had been with Selena. But then again, things hadn't been like that for a while. Marina had befriended him, and he was starting to come out of his shell a bit, though he was still cautious in new situations.

Feeling his stomach growl, Luke exited his room and headed for the kitchen. Once he was in the kitchen, he grabbed some bread, cheese, lettuce, and some lunch meat. Then, he began to make himself a sandwich. Hmmm...I should probably see if Marina wants anything, he thought to himself. After all, if she had company, she'd probably want to make sure that they were taken care of and what else was he supposed to do?
"Hey, Marina! Can I get you anything?" he called.

[Diana McKenzie]

Diana was in the kitchen of her house together with two of her vampires that she had requested for help with making the dinner as good as possible, and not having to do all too much herself at the same time. Most of the things were done and just waiting for the right moment, so when Diana heard the noises outside of the house, the door open and Marina's voice sounding that she had brought Rodney, Diana grinned and signed with her head to the two vampires to go, which they did at vampire speed quickly enough.

Diana turned to the kitchen counter in front of her and continued with some of the last things that had to be cut in the right pieces, and it also made for a good point in Diana's opinion to great this guy Rodney, while she was cutting up stuff with a very sharp and big knife. She could just do it the easy way, change her features right in front of the guy and scare him like that, but that would probably not make Mari too happy, so she would have to do it mostly the old fashioned mother way of interrogation.

'In the kitchen!' Diana called back to Mari but as she continued, her head turned when she heard the sounds next to her and saw Luke standing there and looked at the food he was making for himself. 'Hey you! You could just ask if you could join us, as long as you don't disturb me, which I know you won't.' Diana said to him half warningly and inviting before she shrugged and turned around partially to the doorway as she continued cutting. Mari would probably notice the food soon enough that was already waiting on the table, so the question that Luke called to her would probably soon enough be answered with that she already got enough. She had just made some things that she had liked herself, that she knew Mari liked, and a few random things, maybe Rodney was allergic to something, then she could act all innocent as if she hadn't done it on purpose, but doing that would be an effective means of scaring him already she figured if she was lucky. She would just have to wait and see how she could best proceed.

[mooshi]

Rodney chuckled at Marina’s encouragement. “Easy for you to say. She’s your mom.” As Marina went on with her advice about tonight, Rodney listened intently chuckle and smile completely gone. He was totally in serious mode now trying so hard to become aware of all possibilities of tonight with Diana. He shouldn’t have been taking this so seriously though. He really needed to relax. Everything was going to be okay. Diana was going to be nice. She was going to approve of Rodney. She was going to be okay with Rodney taking Marina away for a few days. It was going to be a wonderful dinner. He kept telling himself that, but not just part but most of him was still shaking in his shoes right now. Rodney nodded at her. ”Freak me out, kid photos, ancient family, possible bullying and testing me, honesty.” He took in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. ”I got this.” He said more to himself than Marina. He felt like he was trying to work himself up for a football game.

Before long they were actually at the door and Marina was already pushing it open and letting her mom know they were both there. Rodney swallowed hard. This was it, no turning back now. Rodney closed the door behind them as they walked in and headed further into the house. Rodney heard the sound of a male voice coming from an area to the right of them. It must be the brother Marina had been telling him about. Great. Not only was he going to have to worry about the mom but also the brother as well. This was just getting better by the minute. But maybe he wouldn’t be that bad. Marina had told him that he was a bit quiet right now especially after everything. He actually thought that he might get along well with Luke actually. But all of his thoughts about Luke went out the window when he heard Diana’s voice coming from the same place as Luke’s. The nervousness set in on overdrive yet again and just heightened when Marina decided to walk them towards the voices. No. No. No. Why was she moving towards them? Oh right, he had to meet them. He did want to more than anything, but Marina telling him about Diana just made him really freaked. She was supposedly a very dominant woman. That didn’t really bother him, but how she worked that dominance over everyone was what worried him.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

"Fake it till you make it, Baby. That's all ya gotta do till you believe it. You've got good grades, you're an all star football player, you cook and you have abs on your abs what is not to love about you?" she patted his arm.

"Oh and do not mention my dad. Unless you wanna get in a discussion on 50 ways to kill him cause right now he's personae non grata at the house. She has his picture on the dart board in the game room and a life sized cutout of him with knife marks in it." she teased lightly.

"Mom, this is Rodney." she said as she pushed Rodney out in front of her and peeked off to the side of his body, "Isn't he gorgeous?" She looked over at Luke and grinned, "A soda for Rodney and I would be good. Rodney this is my brother Luke and my stepmom Diana." she was so happy it fairly radiated off her as she moved Rodney forward to shake hands.

[Diana McKenzie]

Diana continued cutting some of the vegetables and the rest of the food that still had to be prepared, and it was also just something that she wanted to continue as the two came in. She could clearly hear the voices after all as they were approaching, including what was said, which made her happy that Mari warned Rodney not to mention her father, because it was actually no joke that Diana had his picture on the dart board in the game room, or even the life sized cutout with the knife marks in it, it just helped her, you could call it... Therapy of sorts.

Once the two came in and Mari pushed Rodney in front of her, Diana turned around sharply with a big smirk on her face at first, holding the knife right up next to her face so it was right in Rodney's too as she slightly waved it. 'Oh hi!' She started innocently with the knife still so clearly visible and then cocked her head as she let her eyes wander over him in a analyzing manner as her face turned to a more serious expression. 'Really? This is him?' Diana asked in disbelief on purpose as she looked past Rodney to Mari and then back. 'I expected you to be taller... More buff, I don't intimidate you do I?' She asked him as she slowly smirked again and with the knife still held upwards and next to her stepping even closer to Rodney until she was right in front of him.

'I mean... You do have "intentions" with my daughter right? You think you're good enough for her? How are you planning on proving your worth anyway?' She asked him as she narrowed her eyes as she kept looking at him straight in the eyes, twirling the knife calmly in her hand at the same time.

[Luke Brody]

Luke continued to make himself a sandwich and glanced at Diana as she came into the kitchen and then told him that he was welcome to stay as long as he didn't get in the way.
"I wasn't planning on staying long. Don't worry. I know how to make myself scarce," he assured. Yeah, Diana wasn't Selena, but she was a vampire, and he wasn't about to get on her bad side by getting in her way.

When Marina said that she and guest wanted sodas, Luke went to the refrigerator, got the drinks, and then walked out. He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his features at the way Diana greeted Marina's guest.
"Hey. Nice to meet you," he said in response to Marina's introduction.

He listened as Diana interrogated Rodney, asking him what his "intentions" were towards the girl.
"Not that they would do any good since she's spoken for," he couldn't help but chime in. Then, he froze. What had he been thinking? This was none of his business! This only involved Diana, Marina, and this Rodney guy! Oh, man! I'm gonna get it later, he thought to himself.
"Um...I'm gonna---" His sentence trailed off, and he quickly went back into the kitchen, where he finished making his lunch, grabbed his plate and soda, and then went back to his room.

[mooshi]

Rodney nodded trying to continue taking in all of Marina’s words of confidence and wisdom towards him. She was right. This would be a piece of cake. He was smart, exceling on the football field, was practically a master with kitchen utensils, and worked out quite a lot. But at this moment, all Rodney could do was think of the negatives of her compliments. He was smart, but there were way more people at college with 4.0’s to his 3.6. He was good at football, but he was getting absolutely no play time because his coach didn’t want his bad knees to become a problem mid game. He was master with kitchen utensils, sure, when he actually found time to cook. And oh yeah, he worked out, but who’s to say he actually looked good? I mean true, Marina did, but she was biased. So technically, he had nothing at this point.

Rodney was too busy letting his mind completely wander that he didn’t realize that Marina had introduced him until he felt the shove moving him forward. Marina introduced both her stepmother and brother, Luke. Rodney was able to nod at both of them with a goofy grin that he was sure they were laughing at secretly.

As Diana turned around, the only thing that caught his attention was the sharp bladed knife waving too close for comfort. Rodney could see that she was sizing him up, and she definitely wasn’t liking what she was seeing either. And then she questioned his buffness and height. Rodney wasn’t too sure what the expected height or buffness was for Marina’s mom, and Rodney didn’t at all think of himself as perfect by any means, but if Rodney wasn’t fitting her expectations in those respects, then what the hell was she looking for? SUPERMAN?? And then she asked him if she intimidated him but didn’t even let him answer, not that he wanted to anyways, before stepping closer to him with that damn knife and interrogating him. This was definitely not going to be a nice dinner. Diana being this close to him with one of the knives she probably threw at her lifesize Reginald cutout was seriously making him fear for his life. This woman definitely did not know what “crossing the line” meant because she was totally doing that about now.

Rodney could hear Luke mention that Marina was already spoken for which he assumed he was talking about Trenton. It didn’t bother him too much though because although he hadn’t talked to Marina about that whole situation, he was pretty sure she wasn’t interested. But what he caught on to was how quickly Luke left the room after saying that like he knew he’d be in trouble for even speaking. Rodney tried to remember what Marina had told him when they first walked up to the house. Oh right….be honest. Rodney swallowed hard and finally spoke with a nod. “Yeah, I’d say I’m pretty intimidated. The only intentions I have with Marina are to take her out for a weekend away from….” Rodney paused trying to think of an okay word to say that wouldn’t piss Diana off. Definitly not “Reginald” and if he said “home” she would probably take offense to that because Marina was now living with her. ”….stuff,” he continued. Wow, way to completely get all scatterbrained on the word. ”And I….I don’t think I’m good enough for your daughter, ma’am, but she’s strong and has a great heart, and I think she deserves a nice vacation at my parents lake house.” Rodney was as honest as he could be. Hopefully that honesty paid off. If not? Well, this was going to be a “fork in eyeball” sort of night.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

Marina eyed how Diana waved the knife around for effect and rolled her eyes, "Really, Mom? Do you have to do that? I mean its not like you're dating him." she said it jokingly but there was a serious tone to her voice that Diana would not miss. She continued to hug Rodney a little tighter in defiance for the way Diana was coming across. "Well I think he could be a model and he is smart." she said to her comment of "Is this him?" she was starting to get slightly confused by all the posturing going on but did her best to let it slide.

Then Luke mentioned that she was spoken for "Well given that I've not seen Trent in 3 weeks I hardly think he is going to object to me going out to get away from the craziness of the city, Luke, but I'll be sure to let him know if we do get permission to go to the lake-house." She stood her ground while being polite trying to use logic with her mother.

She beamed at Rodney and looked at her mother with a bit of a smirk, "See? Perfectly pedestrian and tame. No craziness. I mean I would think that you'd have your hands more full with your job than with what Rodney and I would be doing at the lake-house. Don't you trust me? I've never given you a reason to distrust me yet. Why would I start now?"

She looked right at her and cocked her head to the side with a slow smile, "Besides, if I'm away for the weekend you and Trenton can hang out. He is your best friend after all. I mean you've known him for years and nothings happened between the two of you, has it?" She raised her eyebrow in the same way Diana was prone to and she smiled. No, she wasn't in a very forgiving mood right now and with how Diana had played up her relationship with Trent Mari wasn't going to let Diana try and mettle with Rodney too. So she did the best thing she could think of. Gave Diana some of her own medicine. Not hard to do since ones parents shaped how you spoke and acted. Some personality traits were bound to cross over. Being a deal maker extraordinaire was one of the things she'd studied from both parents.

[Diana McKenzie]

Diana's eyes had quickly flashed to Luke once he stated that Mari was already spoken for. This was exactly what she had meant with not getting in the way, not saying things like that, it would only complicate things more, especially with how she already expected Mari to go in against it. She narrowed her eyes as she gave him a look when he walked out that she would deal with him later, which she probably would, it wasn't like he hadn't known it or that she hadn't warned him about not interfering, and yet he still did.

She turned to Rodney again, still knife in hand and not caring as if what kind of an impression it must give both Rodney and Mari, she was here to make a point and she wasn't planning on letting up on that. Diana cocked her head to the side while still looking at Rodney and just barely containing herself from prying some more in his mind and making him see some more things to scare him, but that would probably be too suspicious. She didn't even get what Mari's deal was with this human guy that she thought herself about was in over his head with getting involved with people he didn't even reach the level off, like Mari, like herself, besides she didn't seem the point in summarizing for how many reasons she actually thought that, although one of them was that even if this got serious, there would be no thought in Diana's mind of changing this dude so they could be together forever, and that was just the thing that Mari could have if she just choose for Trenton instead of just seemingly fooling around with whatever guy that was interested. Thought that sounded a lot harsher than she actually meant it and thought about it.

'Well why would you feel intimidated? I mean this is just a lovely dinner where my daughter introduces you as some hunk, though at first glance I thought you might be some show host coming to introduce that guy.' Diana said in a manipulative tone as if she didn't see any harm in saying it like that, which the completely innocent smile on her face said the exact same thing. 'A weekend away from what?' Diana then eventually asked seriously while narrowing his eyes, letting him know damn well too that he should be careful of what his next words were going to be, and when it eventually came, she pulled up her eyebrows because of the word he had chosen. 'Stuff? Seriously? That's only making it more obvious about what kind of "stuff" you're talking about...' Diana said as she looked him straight in the eyes with a look that asked if he didn't want to change that word up with something better.

Diana sighed and gave a quick look at Mari when the word vacation came up because it meant that Diana didn't really have much choice but to send someone after them to keep an eye out for if something still got any ideas, Mari knew that not everything was put into place yet to protect her, and this guy didn't even know about any of it, thinking of that, Diana hoped that Mari realized how lucky she actually was that she was playing along with this charade as if they were normal people that were just a bit extraordinary, I mean she could imagine them thinking that of her. 'Doesn't everyone? The point is if we actually get the privilege.' Diana said in a way that showed that she herself would like a vacation too, but she didn't really get the chance yet for that either.

'Good modeling and being smart don't go together sweety.' Diana said with an innocent smile to Mari when she heard what she said about Rodney, meanwhile completely ignoring how Mari had asked her if she really had to do that and that it wasn't like she herself was dating him or something. 'I still don't really get it honey, that you haven't heard from him, doesn't mean that you can just go with jock boy here.' Diana said with a nod to Rodney but keeping her eyes on Mari for now. 'It's not you I distrust...' Diana said as she narrowed her eyes while looking at her, letting her know in that way that she meant that this guy couldn't protect her really even if he wanted to, and that she didn't have any control of what would happen there, neither would she with whatever way Trenton would respond to the news.

Diana looked all but happy when she heard how Mari suddenly started against her about Trenton and her and how she was obviously trying to give her a taste of her own medicine, something that especially with this guy and the risks, Diana didn't really respect and accept at all. She plunged the knife innocently in the kitchen counter when she was done with cutting what she was working on after having turned around and then put some of the plates in Rodney's hand blindly and only then giving him a short but strict look. 'Why don't you make yourself useful and put these on the table in the dining room next to her while I have a quick private talk with my daughter before we start eating?' She asked him, even though it was definitely more rhetorical than an actual question and before she turned her head back to face Mari who she already gave a warning look to watch how she was going to play it, while Diana was still playing this innocent "being human" game per her wishes. They wouldn't even have long to talk if Rodney did as she ordered and Mari accepted that, but it would have to be long enough to put some guidelines about this charade up if Mari wanted to get it her way.